Adjacent Words

Commute definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

COMMUTE, v.t.
1. To exchange; to put one thing in the place of another; to give or receive one thing for another; as, to commute our labors; to commute pain for pleasure.
2. In law, to exchange one penalty or punishment for another of less severity; as, to commute death for transportation.
COMMUTE, v.i. To atone; to compensate; to stand in the place of; as, one penalty commutes for another.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a regular journey of some distance to and from your place of work; "there is standing room only on the high-speed commute" v
1: exchange positions without a change in value; "These operators commute with each other" [syn: commute, transpose]
2: travel back and forth regularly, as between one's place of work and home
3: change the order or arrangement of; "Dyslexics often transpose letters in a word" [syn: permute, commute, transpose]
4: exchange a penalty for a less severe one [syn: commute, convert, exchange]
5: exchange or replace with another, usually of the same kind or category; "Could you convert my dollars into pounds?"; "He changed his name"; "convert centimeters into inches"; "convert holdings into shares" [syn: change, exchange, commute, convert]

Merriam Webster's

I. verb (commuted; commuting) Etymology: Middle English, from Latin commutare to change, exchange, from com- + mutare to change — more at mutable Date: 15th century transitive verb 1. a. change, alter b. to give in exchange for another ; exchange 2. to convert (as a payment) into another form 3. to change (a penalty) to another less severe <commute a death sentence to life in prison> 4. commutate intransitive verb 1. make up, compensate 2. to pay in gross 3. to travel back and forth regularly (as between a suburb and a city) 4. to yield the same mathematical result regardless of order — used of two elements undergoing an operation or of two operations on elements • commutable adjective II. noun Date: 1954 1. an act or an instance of commuting 2. the distance covered in commuting <a long commute>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. 1 intr. travel to and from one's daily work, usu. in a city, esp. by car or train. 2 tr. Law (usu. foll. by to) change (a judicial sentence etc.) to another less severe. 3 tr. (often foll. by into, for) a change (one kind of payment) for another. b make a payment etc. to change (an obligation etc.) for another. 4 tr. a exchange; interchange (two things). b change (to another thing). 5 tr. Electr. commutate. 6 intr. Math. have a commutative relation. 7 intr. US buy and use a season ticket. Etymology: L commutare commutat- (as COM-, mutare change)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Commute Com*mute", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Commuted; p. pr. & vb. n. Commuting.] [L. commutare, -mutatum; com- + mutare to change. See Mutation.] To exchange; to put or substitute something else in place of, as a smaller penalty, obligation, or payment, for a greater, or a single thing for an aggregate; hence, to lessen; to diminish; as, to commute a sentence of death to one of imprisonment for life; to commute tithes; to commute charges for fares. The sounds water and fire, being once annexed to those two elements, it was certainly more natural to call beings participating of the first ``watery'', and the last ``fiery'', than to commute the terms, and call them by the reverse. --J. Harris The utmost that could be obtained was that her sentence should be commuted from burning to beheading. --Macaulay.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Commute Com*mute", v. i. 1. To obtain or bargain for exemption or substitution; to effect a commutation. He . . . thinks it unlawful to commute, and that he is bound to pay his vow in kind. --Jer. Taylor. 2. To pay, or arrange to pay, in gross instead of part by part; as, to commute for a year's travel over a route.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(commutes, commuting, commuted) 1. If you commute, you travel a long distance every day between your home and your place of work. Mike commutes to London every day... McLaren began commuting between Paris and London... He's going to commute. VERB: V to/from n, V between n and n, V • commuter (commuters) The number of commuters to London has dropped by 100,000. ...a commuter train. N-COUNT 2. A commute is the journey that you make when you commute. (mainly AM) The average Los Angeles commute is over 60 miles a day. N-COUNT 3. If a death sentence or prison sentence is commuted to a less serious punishment, it is changed to that punishment. His death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment... Prison sentences have been commuted. VERB: usu passive, be V-ed to n, be V-ed

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Exchange. 2. Replace (a greater punishment by a less).

Moby Thesaurus

alternate, bandy, be quits with, change, change for, compensate, compound for, convert, cooperate, counterchange, course, cover ground, dub in, exchange, fare, fare forth, fetch, flit, flow, gang, get back at, get even with, give and take, give place to, go, go along, hie, interchange, logroll, make do with, make way for, metamorphose, move, move along, move on, offer in exchange, pass, pay back, permute, progress, put up with, reciprocate, redeem, requite, respond, retaliate, return, return the compliment, ring in, roll, roll on, run, sashay, shift with, stream, substitute, swap, switch, take in exchange, trade, transfer, transfigure, translate, transmogrify, transmute, transpose, travel, wayfare, wend